Sharia-Compliant Finance And How We Are Funding Jihad in the Heartland

Sharia-Compliant Finance

While our eyes are on Obama’s mantra of “Pass the Bill!” or the campaigning of Republican hopefuls, one of the least talked about forms of Jihad is making great advancements into our U.S. financial system, Sharia-Compliant Finance. In short Sharia-compliant finance is “reverse money-laundering” for Islamic extremists or fund-raising for Jihad.

In turn, a percentage of such funds’ gains underwrote pro-Nazi charities, like the German-American Bund, and similar organizations in the Fatherland, like the Hitler Youth.”

Sharia-compliant finance, in its modern day form, is not specifically required in the Quran. Instead, it merely prohibits financial transactions of having typical interest fees attached to investments or loans (the charging of excessive interest on the loaning of money). In the 1940’s prominent Islamic figure, Maulana Abul Ala Mawdudi, saw the cultural and political Westernizations of Islam as a loss of religious and national identity to the Muslim World.

To offset this perceived threat Mawdudi, along with others, pushed for a separate ideology, separate politics, and separate economics for Muslims. The result was to create a financial investment transactional status referred as being “authorized” or “pure” (halal) and in accordance to Islamic or Sharia Law. “Impure” transactions were ones which involved money from investments in the pork and alcohol-beverage industries, pornography, gambling, interest-based financing and Western defense.

Banned Industries: SCF transactions must not include prohibited (haram) activities, including investments in the pork and alcohol-beverage industries, pornography, gambling, interest-based financing and Western defense, based on lists revised monthly by Shariah authorities;

Obligatory Tithing: SCF can entail contributions of 2.5% of income or more in a charitable gift (known as zakat) that observant Muslims are obliged to make each year. The Shariah advisors are often responsible for determining the recipients of such contributions;

Obligatory Donation of “Tainted” Revenue: “Purification” is required of a Shariah-compliant investment or financial transaction that has been tainted with forbidden revenue, whether from interest, illicit speculation (such as trading in commodity futures) or a forbidden commercial enterprise (such as the pork industry). These “tainted” funds must be purified by donating the revenue to an acceptable charity, again typically selected by Shariah authorities. The recipients of these funds are currently not disclosed and the process is non-transparent. Shariah law requires charitable donations to jihadist combatants (i.e., terrorists) and their families (e.g., the support of families of suicide-homicide bombers).

As stated in the report, Sharia-compliant finance also requires Muslims to make an annual charitable contribution of 2.5% of their income. The chariable contribution (or Zakat) can be in 8 different categories, half of which go toward funding terrorism. In addition, money or funds deemed “tainted” were required to be “purified” by donating the funds to a “chosen” charity, and only the very select group of Sharia Advisors can choose these charities. Many Islamic banks have been and are being built throughout the world and the U.S. to orchestrate these transactions. According to the McCormick Foundation report in 2008, some “400 Islamic banks active in 75 countries with close to a TRILLION dollars under management as of mid-2007.” On Sept. 16, 2008, the Washington Times described the McCormick report, in “…conclusion: banks and investment houses offering SCF products may be enabling or engaging in the following: racketeering, antitrust activity, securities fraud, consumer fraud and/or material support for terror.” The article goes on to say;

“What makes Shariah-Compliant Finance even more dangerous than subprime is that, in its effort to legitimize and institutionalize Shariah in America, it is advancing a criminal conspiracy whose purpose is the violent overthrow of the United States Constitution and government in favor of Islamic rule. That would make it sedition.”

In 2008 Sharia Financial Advisors worldwide numbered less than 100 as many of them sit on 20 to 25 Sharia advisory boards, while collecting an annual income of $50,000 per board. SCF institutions, along with the power and guidance of Sharia advisors, help to fund some of the most violent Jihadist organizations across the world. Oddly enough, despite their financial importance to these banks and institutions along with their strong views to convert the U.S. into an Islamic State, very few of these advisors have any kind of economic or financial credentials.

Sharia-Compliant Financial Advisors

Many of these Sharia Advisors are well connected with terror-supporting or terror-complacent organizations and institutions worldwide and within the U.S. Here are just a few examples of the men chosen as Sharia Financial Advisors for institutions operating within the U.S. and around the world.

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani – From the McCormick report: “Mufti Taqi Usmani is one of the most prominent living theoreticians of Sunni Islam and perhaps the best known current exponent of the Deobandi school of Islamism. He is also one of the half-a-dozen most authoritative and sought after Shariah experts in the world of Islamic finance today.” In his book titled “Islam and Modernism,” he states,

“Killing is to continue until the unbelievers pay jizyah (subjugation tax) after they are humbled or overpowered.“

He was a Judge on the Shariah Appellate Bench, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 1982-2002, and also a Judge, Federal Shariah Court of Pakistan, 1980-1982.

In Sept. 2001 he was among a small delegation of Sharia sympathizers sent to convince Osama Bin Lauden to give up. It was later leaked by some of the clerics present, such as the jihadist Mufti Shamzai, that the delegation may have, actually tried to encourage the Taliban’s will to resist.

Osman, while president of the Illinois Islamic organization the Quranic Literary Institute, had $1.4 million in assets seized by the Justice Department in June 1998 on the grounds that it was used to support Hamas terrorist activities.

Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah – is one of the handful of prominent figures in the area of Sharia and Islamic finance whose expertise is continually sought by numerous Sharia Boards. Like Osman, he has been careful not to publicly make any controversial political statements. However, his connections and affiliations with a number of Shariah-adherent Islamic organizations and terror-linked groups leave little doubt to his true beliefs of Jihad against the West.

Chairman of Executive Committee, Unicorn Investment Bank which also has a branch office in Chicago, Illinois.

Legal Risks of Sharia-Compliant Finance

Sharia-compliant finance at the very least requires willful neglect by its investors into non-transparent, unmonitored, and unregulated investments. These select investment advisors have peripheral, but usually direct, links to terrorist-funding or actual terrorist organizations. Needless to say, any funds invested could potentially be used to aid terrorist organizations, and in turn could easily be frozen or confiscated as with funds used by other criminal organizations. Does that sound like a safe place for your money?

An investment is suppose to be a safe location to either protect your money or invest for your future. Also, those investing or donating the money on your behalf are required to do their due diligence to investigate these entities for any terrorist connections. This is impossible with the guarded nature of Sharia-compliant advisors and the funds or entities they deem “pure.”

In addition, charities in the U.S. are required by law to show where exactly the money is going. This is what protects donors from unintentionally funding the pockets of criminals or charlatans. We’ve usually heard about criminals like this shortly after 9/11 or after many natural disasters. Despite the risks, many are throwing caution to the wind and investing or donating in Sharia-compliant funds and charities whose only oversight is a small, guarded group connected to active Jihadists. A perfect example of this is the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). Once called “America’s largest Islamic charity” was later discovered to be funding the terrorist organization of Hamas.

“On close examination, it is clear that Shariah-compliant finance does indeed expose the financial institutions and other businesses involved in this industry to a whole host of disclosure, due diligence, and compliance issues – all of which elevate substantially the civil liability and criminal exposure such companies otherwise factor into their business risk profiles. To date, however, very little of this increased civil and criminal exposure has been recognized or analyzed – let alone been guarded against – in any meaningful way.”

Below is a list of civil or criminal charges Sharia-compliant finance exposes to its donors and investors:

Racketeering (RICO): The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (commonly referred to as RICO) is a U.S. federal law that extends criminal penalties for a “pattern of racketeering activity” which include bank fraud and money laundering.

RICO is violated when a defendant – or, in this case, a cadre of defendants acting as Shariah authorities – engage in a “pattern of racketeering activity” and have:

Invested income from a pattern of racketeering activity in an “enterprise”;

Acquired or maintained an interest in an “enterprise” through a pattern of racketeering activity;

Conducted or participated in the affairs of an “enterprise” through a pattern of racketeering activity;

Conspired to do any of the above.

One example of this is the Allied Mortgage fraud ring where 24 were arrested on RICO charges in 2009. The 24 arrested included “straw buyers” (as part of the fraud) as well as tax preparers and a CPA. As FBI Special Agent in Charge, Keith Slotter put it, “It shows how seriously we take the crime. … It’s the most serious charge you could go with.” In the case of Sharia-compliant finance, the criminal “enterprise” is the entire Sharia-compliant industry because financial institutions chose to open their doors and grant exclusive and sweeping control of their funds to men who have documented or who have granted “material support or resources” to terror organizations who wish to do the U.S. harm.

Fraud: In a post-9/11 nation, the state & federal securities laws, state consumer anti-fraud laws, and common laws all require full disclosure to the investor. What constitutes a lack of full disclosure is the lack of material provided on associations, the fatwas and writings of the Sharia advisors, as well as the possible terrorist or jihadist groups who would receive the “purified” funds. This is required material for investors, however, in Sharia-compliant finance none of this information, if any, is provided. In its own Islamic context, Sharia advisors are above reproach and not subject to scrutiny or analysis. With this complete lack of oversight or regulation in the SCF industry, the risk to the investors’ funds are not limited strictly to forces within specific business terms and market conditions alone. One fraud law in particular which SCF is susceptible is:

Common Law Tort Action for Deceit or Fraud: Common Law Fraud is considered; 1. a false representation of, 2. a material fact which, 3. the defendant knew to be false with the intent, 4. to induce the plaintiff to rely upon it and, 5. the plaintiff in fact justifiably relied upon the representation, thereby, 6. suffering damages as a result. In other words, not providing information on Sharia or the Sharia advisors could be considered an omission in which a common law violation may be filed in the plaintiff’s state.

Material Support of Terror: With SCF’s requirement of charitable donations, or zakats, to be “purified, ” there are questions legislators, investors, attorneys, and the public should definitely be asking of a financial industry with very little oversight or regulation in place. The McCormick Foundation’s report entitled “Shariah, Law and ‘Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond?“ points out some very good questions which should be answered before spending a dime lest it end up in the pockets of al Qaeda.:

Who decides what happens to the zakat funds?

Which charities are selected, and by what criteria?

What tracking mechanisms are in place to trace these funds?

If regulators usually do not know which charities are being funded, and no tracking mechanism is in place, is this due to ignorance of the potential for funding terrorism, or willful blindness?

Who is liable if Shariah-compliant funds are indeed funding terrorism and training for jihadists: the funds themselves? The regulators? The investors? The shariah advisors?

Considering there is a known history between large Muslim charities and jihadist terror groups, it begs the question; is ignorance or willful blindness a defense for funding terrorists? In this post-9/11 world, it is investors and financial entities which are becoming more and more culpable. In other words, if you stand outside a terrorist training camp and hand the first person you see $1000, what are the chances it will be a terrorist? It should surprise no one that men with the resumes they have would send funds in the direction of groups they are already passionate toward.

Reverse Money-Laundering: The reverse money-laundering scheme works like this; move completely legitimate funds into U.S. businesses (and municipalities) through Sharia-compliant finance banks or charities, then direct funds to domestic or overseas charities or organizations with some being directly tied to terrorist or jihad groups. Transactions like this are tough to spot without regulation, or even surveillance, unless it is already in place. There are (2) ways in which the funds are moved and directed:

As obliged by Islam, faithful Muslims donate a certain percentage of their income to charities through SCF charities or businesses. In the Middle East that amount is calculated by Sharia advisors, however, in the U.S. it is more common that the individual investor decides on an amount. Questions: Which charities are Shariah-compliant?Who makes this determination?Do the businesses or financial institutions direct these contributions or are these decisions made by the Shariah authorities?Is there any vetting of the recipients of these charities to determine what they do with these funds?Why is this process not transparent?

When gross income of a business or investment is deemed to have come from Shariah-prohibited sources, or the funds are somehow “not purified” from a previous attempt, such “tainted” funds can only be purified by being donated to a Sharia-complaint charity. As a rule such charitable contributions are not fully disclosed in public filings of U.S. SCF financial institutions.

The practice of Muslim charities funneling money to terrorist organizations is so prevalent throughout the world that the U.S. has a running list of organizations they monitor. The (3) largest Muslim charities operating in the U.S. have all had assets frozen and eventually were shutdown. Asking the questions of who benefits from SCF contributions, what is the charities mission, and do they send money overseas would be a good place to start in learning if we are working to fund the jihad against us.

Anti-Trust and Collusion: In 2008 the McCormick Foundation counted about 60 Sharia-compliant advisors worldwide, today that number is reported to be less than 200. Currently, there is a move to universalize the entry process in becoming a Sharia-compliance advisor driven by Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (“AAOIFI”) and the Islamic Financial Services Board (“IFSB”). The move to design universal standards for a newcomer to enter this guarded group has serious anti-trust issues. Since the current Sharia finance advisors have complete control over the entire market share for SCF, this certainly creates a conflict of interest in having the existing group decide the requirements for a new SCF advisor.

For more detailed information on Sharia-compliant finance along with case studies on the Dow Jones Islamic Index, the Dow Jones Islamic Fund (DJIF), Caribou Coffee, and others, I recommend you take the time to read the McCormick Foundation report, “Shariah, Law and ‘Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond?“. It is clear that one of the best guarded secrets in Sharia-Compliant Finance is how the advisors choose which charities or investments to send money, and what these charities or investments help fund. This small group of SCF advisors already have documented views against the U.S. In addition, one of the factors that help deem funds “impure” is specifically “Western defense.” This should be an obvious red flag to any individual, business, municipality, or government who chooses to invest in SCF financial products. Unfortunately, despite the seditiousness of these products, some are only seeing dollar signs and among them is our own federal government.

Financing Jihad in the U.S.

In June of 2010 Pajamas Media reported that President Obama appointed Samar Ali as one of the White House Fellows for 2010. She comes from the law firm of Hogan Lovells, and at the reporting of this article it was one of the few law firms in the U.S. specializing in Sharia-compliant finance. As PM pointed out which the Left press did not was:

Samar’s experience includes advising a Middle Eastern university in the potential establishment of a Foreign Aid Conventional and Shari’ah Compliant Student Loan Program. … Before joining Hogan & Hartson, Samar worked as a summer associate for the firm and as a legal intern for the Islamic International Arab Bank.

PM also reported that the White House press release stated that Ms. Ali “is a founding member of the first U.S. Delegation to the World Islamic Economic Forum.” What was missed is that the foundation that runs this forum has none other than Saleh Abdullah Kamel on their International Advisory Panel. This is the same Kamel that was mentioned on the “Golden Chain” roster as an un-indicted co-conspirator in helping Osama bin Laden funnel money for the 9/11 attacks. In addition, months later the White House directed $240 million to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), through Sharia-compliant banks to the Affordable Mortgage and Loan Corporation (AMAL) mortgage finance program to help build housing for Fatah-run areas and Hamas with our tax dollars, as reported by Creeping Sharia.

A number of U.S. banking entities are also looking to SCF products to make money while moving it to our enemies. One such bank, as reported by WorldNetDaily in June of 2010, is AIG. A couple others which I’d like to focus on are Devon Bank and Unicorn Investment Bank, both located in Chicago.

Devon Bank has been selling Sharia-compliant finance home mortgage products since the early 2000’s, as reported by Creeping Sharia. In 2005 Devon Bank increased to a 10 state-wide span with the help of giant mortgage broker Freddie Mac, and in 2008 that number grew to 36 states according to USA Today. Also, in 2009 Freddie Mac received $30.8 billion in federal aid to bail them out, so in essence, taxpayers are funding this Sharia-compliant financing on a national level.

One observation I made is that on their website at DevonBank.com they list their Chicago headquarters at 6445 N. Western Ave. Chicago, IL 60645. What is interesting is that they also have a website at DevonBank.com/Islam/ but there is no mention of Sharia or Islam or even a link from DevonBank.com to DevonBank.com/Islam/ yet they both have the same contact information. Do you suppose that Devon Bank does not want their non-Muslim customers to openly know about their Muslim customers? The closest they come to mentioning Sharia-compliant finance or Islam is using the terms “faith-based financing.” Do you suppose they mean “Christian?” Just to be sure I tried DevonBank.com/Christian/, no such website. Maybe Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky knows why.

Devon Bank states on their “Islam” website that their products were reviewed “by the Honorable Mufti Muhammad Nawal-ur-Rahman and the Shariah Supervisory Board of America, located near Devon Bank’s main office in the Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park.” The Rahmat-e-Alam Foundation, which runs the Sharia Supervisory Board of America, was founded by Mufti Muhammad Nawal-ur-Rahman, whose bio now only exists on a handful of forum websites, but oddly does not (proudly) appear on any of the (3) websites the Rahmat-e-Alam Foundation runs. In the bio it describes how he is a Sharia advisor for the Sharia Supervisory Board of America along with; Vice-President: Maulana Mufti Taqi Usmani whose book quotes, “Killing is to continue until the unbelievers pay jizyah (subjugation tax) after they are humbled or overpowered,” as mentioned above.

The Unicorn Investment Bank is another Sharia-compliant finance entity also located in Chicago. It has Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah sitting as the Chairman of the Executive Committee, who is well verse in funneling funds to terrorist groups as he has done for Osama bin Lauden’s brother-in-law Mohammed Jamal Khalifa with the IIRO and for Saleh Abdullah Kamel through the Benevolence International Foundation for the attacks on 9/11.

I think the MBA student hit the nail on the head. Progressives/Liberals have always had the practice of wanting to help people (or govern them) so bad that they don’t let basic economics or national security get in the way. What better landscape than Chicago to convince potential “investors,” under the guise of “charity” to trust in a financial system that claims to donate to good causes, chosen by a group of terror-linked men, with absolutely no accountability? It would be laughable if it wasn’t so dangerous. This is the biggest problem with Sharia-compliant finance as well as the best way to pitch it to the U.S. “I can make money AND help people?…Great!Where do I sign?”

Those marketing Sharia-compliant finance banks and products have done it so successfully that even U.S. government entities have bought this line of unvetted, unregulated, uninvestigated bull so completely. They hide the truth of SCF’s unaccountability behind such buzz words as; “interest-free,” “ethical,” and “socially responsible” investing. It is one thing for individual investors, donors, and businesses to use this ‘corrupt from the top-down’ financial system. However, when cities and municipalities start using this kind of a system for retirement, infrastructure/building projects, education, and more, the money we would be potentially putting in the hands of terrorist hell-bent on killing us would be breath-taking, much like our debt now. One such project is looking to do just that, and its called the Chicago Islamic Microfinance Project.

Chicago Islamic Microfinance Project

What is microfinance? The short answer is microfinance is a group of financial services, like credit or loans, aimed at helping low-income people have the same access to banking services as those of higher incomes. It is, however, not just simply a group of products or services, but in some regards it is a movement for solidarity lending. It has been used as a vehicle to help impoverished countries, but has questionable results of success as described in a Jan. 2011 article on NPR’s website about a study on microfinance in India. The article states, “No evidence was found to suggest that microcredit empowers women or improves health or educational outcomes.”

The Chicago Islamic Microfinance Project is the brainchild of DePaul University Finance Professor Karen Hunt-Ahmed along with partners Law Professor Cynthia Shawamreh and, now CFO of Cook County Illinois, Tariq Malhance. According to their development project presentation, which can be downloaded in PDF (also here), they first aim to collect $10 million in charitable contributions. In addition to the $10 million, another $5 million, described as an “additional endowment” would be required to pay for “salaries and benefits of two professors, two staff assistants and soft costs associated with the initiation of the project for the five-year pilot period.” Then, they will dole out $10,000 to $200,000 in “Mudaraba structured” partnerships for business or development projects which will be selected with the help of their “Investment Advisory Board.” From the presentation:

“We will develop investment underwriting criteria, approved by Shariah Board scholars, to govern the selection of each investment project. Each proposed Mudaraba partnership project will be presented to the Investment Advisory Board for approval to ensure compliance with sound, Shariah-compliant underwriting investment criteria.”

As for the Investment Advisory Board, maybe their Sharia-compliant advisor of their choice will be Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, since he already is the Chairman of Executive Committee of Chicago’s Unicorn Investment Bank, and Finance Professor Karen Hunt-Ahmed has a former co-worker from SHUAA Capital in Dubai, Jamal Bin Ghalaita, who also works at terror-linked Dallah al-Baraka Group where Ghuddah is Chairman of the Supervisory Board, as mentioned above. They may also pick Maulana Mufti Taqi Usmani who is already associated with Devon Bank in Chicago. Both have excellent experience with terror-linked charities, funneling money, and having their charities shutdown by the government.

Sharia-Compliant Finance is a vehicle to convince potential “investors,” under the guise of “charity” or “investment,” to trust in a financial system that claims to donate to good causes and provide “faith-based financing.” Though these financial transactions claim to be faith-based, they are subjugated and directed by an elite group of terror-linked men with Jihadists and antisemitic views with absolutely no accountability or oversight. There is evidence the world over of Sharia and Islam circumventing or outright ignoring secular laws. With the practice of SCF’s secretive and unquestioned control of funds deemed “tainted” and at the their disposal, it does not take an economist or mathematician to realize that these funds will find their way to those with views as radical and dangerous as the Sharia advisors.

It is clear that very many terror-linked groups and organizations have set-up shop in or around the Chicago area. Why exactly may be up for debate, but nonetheless they are there. A ‘Sharia America’ will hurt and absolutely control Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It is only through the efforts of individual-freedom-loving Muslims, and non-Muslims alike, working together to identify and expose these financial jihadi tactics which will shutdown this pipeline of funds to terrorists. As Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, President of American Islamic Forum for Democracy states:

“Sharia-compliant finance only empowers Muslim Sharia Law leaders whose real long term vision is to impose Sharia Law on the world and recreate an Islamic Empire. These leaders want to overpower capital free markets and create their version of an Islamic economy. Bankers and business leaders are being duped.” – Video.

Some financial entities who have various kinds of Sharia-compliant finance products or services include; Citibank, UBS, AIG, Dowjones, HSBC, MasterCard, and Visa. I would also add that it is not just bankers and businesses being duped, but also the Liberal/Progressive Left and anyone else not looking past the word “charity” or “investment.”

We must perform our due diligence in investigating where EXACTLY our money goes, and push our elected officials to do the same. If not, then eventually with every loan payment, house payment, utility payment, or bank transaction from soda to sailboats will have “a portion of these proceeds go toward the support of al Qaeda and the end of the free world.“